Amber Sunset
by baileyday
Summary: The fifth book in the Twilight Saga minus S. Meyers input .. This takes place after 'Breaking Dawn', as if she had kept writing it. To those who didn't want the saga to end.. the next chapters for their lives, as told by me. Enjoy :
1. Preface & 1 Changes

Falling Dusk.

_**Preface**_

There was something in her eyes that I hadn't seen before, despair I couldn't quite pinpoint. Tears formed around the rims and threatened to spill over. I could hear the racing sound of her heart and felt a twist in my stomach as I watched her breathing quicken and her hands tighten into fists, threatening to pierce her seemingly invincible skin.

She stood by the glass wall of our home, watching the autumn leaves get swept away and around in circles outside, I could feel her heart breaking and wished for the first time in 7 years since it stopped beating that I had a heart to beat for her, too. I felt almost guilty that I didn't.

"Mom..?" She whispered, only loud enough that I could hear, I didn't have to say anything before she continued talking, "I want to go home.. I want to see Pop."

She didn't have to look at me to have noticed my body stiffen, a tightness found itself inside my throat when she turned around and looked at me with pleading eyes, with Charlie's eyes. Her lips were trembling and her tears no longer faltered. I cautiously walked toward her, wanting to feel the warmth of her body near my own, she did not move as she eyed me, waiting for me to say something.

I put my hands on her shoulders and leaned into her, our foreheads touching as I looked into her eyes. For a moment there was only silence, until she let out a wet sob and wrapped her arms around me, burying her face in my neck. She cried herself to sleep in my arms, her body curling into a ball when I brought her to the nearest couch.

I could hear Edward, Jacob and Emmett coming back from their hunting trip together, roaring with laughter over the happenings of their day, I sighed and pushed the shield from my mind, calling out my husbands' name as I did so. In less than 30 seconds, Edward was at my side, his arms around me, his face to mine and his breath in my ear. I started crying, short of tears and he held me silently, as we watched our daughter being carried away by Jacob, downstairs to their room.

_**1. Changes**_

It had been 6 years since I had become a Cullen and I was still happier than ever. A few years after Renesmèe was born, everyone relocated to a small town in West Virginia, though a little larger than Forks, called 'Elkins'. Edward, our daughter and I stayed behind in Forks and laid low until Renesmèe grew up a little more, Charlie had refused to leave the town and Renesmèe didn't want to leave Charlie or Jacob behind, either. In true Cullen tradition, we had made a compromise, to stay in Forks until she looked old enough to pass for my little sister, looking at most a couple of years apart.

Moving away from Forks was heartbreaking, Charlie helped load whatever belongings we were taking with us into our cars, making small talk as he did so, it wasn't really necessary for him to help, between Edward, Jacob, Renesmèe and I, moving was pretty easy, but we let him help regardless, it made him feel better.

His greying hair shone in the little sunlight that the clouds over Forks offered, as he stood back to lean against the truck Edward had given him, for 'safe-keeping' until we had come back from Elkins. It had taken a lot of coercing before Charlie had accepted the truck, since he had retired as chief, he was driving around another old busted up Chevrolet he had bought off Billy and Jacob.

Renesmèe and Charlie were quite close, he never mentioned how much seeing her grow so fast made him feel, or that he had noticed in the first place. Even so, Edward knew exactly how anxious he was about every little situation that was classified under his 'need to know' basis, but nothing changed how much he loved her, and that seemed to be enough.

Edward held my hand and walked with me to my father, I could already feel the choking feeling in my throat start, and I was glad my eyes couldn't produce tears. Charlie closed the small distance between us and took his fingers out of his pockets, looking mildly uncomfortable; goodbyes were never his strength.

"So, I guess that's everything," he started, finding it difficult to keep eye contact, "I'm gonna miss you kid." He smiled weakly, and I could tell he was trying not to cry. I pulled him swiftly in my arms and hugged him as hard as I could without hurting him, wishing against all wishes that I were able to hug him as tight as _I _could, tight enough so I could fulfil my own needs. Renesmèe lined up behind me, crying, and waited for her turn to say goodbye.

"This is not goodbye forever, Pop," She winked at him, and he chuckled a little, "I love you more than Jake, mum and dad combined!" He laughed this time, as I peeled myself away from him and she almost knocked him over with the force she was putting into her embrace. I watched as his cheeks flushed red and his eyes gushed with the love of his family. Renesmèe looked at me, her eyes smiling through her tears.

Edward hugged Charlie last after Jacob had said his goodbyes, I could see them whispering to each other and I pretended I couldn't hear Charlie telling him to look after his girls. Edward shook his hand then, after promising that, and that we would all keep in touch and come back to visit.

Jacob put his arm around my daughter, escorting her into the car, he was driving my car, following behind Edward and I, we hadn't really made plans on the driving schedule, but I was guessing that I would be taking over driving for Jake when he wanted to have a sleep.

We all waved and shouted out the windows as we pulled out of the Cullen's old driveway, leaving Charlie to his own devices, he had insisted that he stay behind and make sure everything around the house was locked up and safe.

"I love you," Edward took my hand when we were in the car, safely on the road to our new home and far enough so he couldn't hear Charlie's heart breaking anymore, "He's going to be fine, love."

"I hope so." I said, honestly contemplating going back, "I'm just going to miss him."

He nodded, and looking back toward the road he smiled, "Jacob and Ness are arguing again."

*

Jacob and Renesmee were discussing high school in Elkins, Renesmee wanted to start off in 9th grade, while Jake wanted to start in 10th. Of course Renesmee didn't really care where he started, so long as they were in the same area code. Jake, on the other hand, wanted to be in every single class, every single day with her. I rolled my eyes as Edward relayed their conversation to me.

The drive was going to take just under two days, it could have been done a lot faster, but Jake and Ness had insisted on taking it slow, if we weren't going to enjoy the sites completely, we may as well have been able to observe them from the cars.

Edward held my hand for most of the drive only letting go when we were refilling the cars, Jake and Ness had stocked up on food to eat so we didn't have to stop as many times. I was eager to see the rest of my family; it had been almost a year since I had seen any of them and the closer we got, the more I realised how much I had missed them.

"You're nervous, aren't you?" Edward's smooth voice cut through the silence like a hot knife through butter, my stomach fluttered for a moment. I sighed, my eyes still wandering out the window, watching the blue of the mountains and ground roll passed.

"I've never done the vampire slash high school thing," I murmured, "What if I mess this up, what if people don't like me, what if.."

"Baby, baby stop!" he chuckled, looking at me and shaking his head, his hand squeezed mine just that little bit tighter, "Firstly, what's not to like.. Secondly, the only difference between doing this human and doing this like us is that we've done it before, and are more knowledgeable, therefore grades aren't really something to lose yourself over."

"School is more like a long term method acting job for us, and thirdly... We don't really need to be making friends, we usually stick to ourselves, which I guess wipes out social awkwardness." He winked at me, "What's the worst that could happen?"

"I could eat someone." I argued, quietly.

He rolled his eyes and laughed, leaning over to my chair to kiss me. He didn't slow down the car when his eyes closed and his lips touched mine, the butterflies in my stomach bashed into each other. My phantom heart fluttered and my hands instinctively wrapped around his neck, reaching upward into his bronze hair. Our lips danced together until the picture of my daughter and Jacob making disgusted faces played into my head. By the way Edward pulled away from me and laughed my favourite laugh, he had seen it too.

Renesmee and Jacob were driving by us, close enough so we could open our windows and hold hands, laughing and pretending to gag. Ness's power had developed so she didn't even need to touch us anymore. I made a mental note to make sure I tackled both of them when we got to Elkins, shaking my head and laughing at myself.

*

The drive was long and arduous; I had taken over driving for Jacob when he and Renesmee wanted to sleep. It was getting cold, by the gauge in the car, so I made sure Ness was covered up with the blankets she had brought with her. I looked over at my daughter, pride still filled my heart. She was still the most beautiful being I had ever laid my eyes on, along with Edward.

Her long brown hair formed ringlets at her waist, her skin was pale, warm and soft and her face was the most incredible mixture of Charlie's, Edward's and my own. She reminded me of Alice a little, with her stature; she was small and thin and looked so breakable. I watched her eyes flutter underneath their closed lids; she was murmuring slightly and as far as I could see, definitely dreaming. For her dreams, I was envious, when her lips turned up slightly at the corners and her breath was steady and calm, relaxed and comfortable. Her nightmares broke me, I would hear her from where I was, and run to her side, sometimes Jacob would already have her awake, or lying in his arms.

Her nightmares had her shaking violently at times, and she would never really let us know about them. Edward knew, of course, but it had been a while since I even asked him to tell me.

And then I thought of Edward, in the car with Jacob in his passenger seat. We were still entranced by each other and in love more than anyone could think possible. I was somewhat glad not to have had Emmett around the last few years, sometimes I could hear his voice in my head, laughing hysterically at the way Edward and I had broken a few homes together, this was a little fact we had always planned to keep to ourselves when we saw him.

Jacob and Renesmee had lived in the main Cullen house in Forks, in separate bedrooms, mind you. Edward could always tell if that rule had been cheated, so they eventually quit trying. Nothing sinister of course, they just seemed to enjoy sleeping next to each other, protecting each other. I remembered the most recent argument we had, after finding them sleeping with their arms around each other one morning.

"_Jacob! She's only 6 years old!" I fumed, feeling disgusted and betrayed and beyond composed._

_Jacob started to stutter, his hands up in front of him, as if waiting for me to attack. "Bells, its not like that, I swear.."_

"_MOM!" Renesmee had screamed, standing between Jacob and myself, her eyes piercing my own, "I might be six in age but I am so much older in body and brain!"_

_I didn't make a noise._

"_I am _taller _than a first grader; I am stronger, faster and smarter than someone in Olympic and Guinness records!" She scowled, "I can do whatever I want!"_

_With that she had stormed off, grabbing Jacob by his t-shirt on her way out the door._

_I stood there in shock, not moving until I heard a stifled laugh come from behind me. I turned around angrily and stared Edward down._

_He smirked, "She has a point, you know?"_

I shook the memory from my mind and followed Edward's car down a turn-off. I had no idea where we were but I was guessing we were pretty close. With the two 'half-humans' asleep, we were free to drive as fast as we wanted, therefore cutting off a very large portion of time from the road trip.

We turned down a long street, fairy lights were over every little shop and business building. The town was quite cute, bigger than Forks, population, 7,038. Well, 7,042 now, I couldn't help but think.

We drove through the streets and before I could really think, we were driving along the side of a lake, there were trees opposite the road we were on from the lake. The beauty of this town made its way to my mouth and I smiled unknowingly. Edward drove a little slower now, looking for the right turn off, and when he found it he raced down the little dirt path, I almost wondered if the cars would fit through the tiny stretch of path.

Without knowing where we were, he parked the car and started to nudge Jacob awake, I did the same for Renesmee and waited for her to wake up before stepping out of the car. Jacob walked passed me on the way to say hello to her while I walked up a small path to stand next to Edward. His hand closed around mine and he kissed my forehead before returning his gaze to the sight before him.

I finally lifted my eyes and noticed what he was looking at. The most majestic looking home I had ever seen stood in front of us, sitting quite gloriously not far from the edge of the lake, I wondered briefly what would happen if there were an earthquake or something of the sort. It was so beautiful, if I had real breath, it would have taken it away.

The home looked larger than the Cullens' home back in Forks, and still there were windows everywhere I could look, and anywhere I figured one could be put without looking ghastly.

Music was playing inside, I could hear that now. Edward smiled and made sure Jacob and Ness were behind us before we started waling down a small path toward the house. Standing at the doorway I realised this place was a lot larger in comparison to what I had just thought.

It was then that the most refreshing sight caught my eyes, Alice had swung open the huge double doors to the entrance, her smile wide and her eyes sparkling and flung herself around my neck.

"Oh, OH It's so good to see you!" she kissed all over my face and then went to Edward, then Renesmee and finally high fived Jake, "I could tell you were here when I couldn't see you at all anymore!"

The bitterness of her not being able to see things with Jake and Ness around had dissipated over the years, and in true Alice tradition, she had even welcomed the idea of being in the blind.

She showed us into the house, moving us into the large entrance foyer; there were staircases on either side of the room, curving upward to what looked like a balcony leading to another room. In front of us there was an opening to what I guessed was a living room. A grandiose chandelier hung above us, sparkling a thousand lights and yet everything seemed so quiet.

Edward leaned down and smiled, whispering into my ear, "Here they come..."

All of a sudden there were loud cracks and streamers and balloons' coming from God knows where, and around us there was Emmett laughing, Rosalie grinning, Jasper smirking, Esme beaming and Carlisle smiling, his arms open in welcome. They all screamed '_SURPRISE!' _as if this weren't expected, from Edwards' point of view, anyway, and in another instant, my family had embraced us entirely in a group hug that made me feel for the first time.

_I am home._


	2. 2 Hide and Seek

_**2. Hide and Seek**_

The house was even more breathtaking inside, than out. Esme showed us around the 4-storey home proudly, not leaving one ounce of the place unturned. It was so large that she had mentioned a few times things being in the 'wings' of the home, I didn't realize there were houses left in this world with west wings. It seemed so surreal, even for me.

Edward his hand over my eyes, as Esme and Alice walked us to our third storey room. I guessed that he had already seen it in their heads, decorating it and everything that they do. I heard a door open and felt myself being pushed through; the air in here was crisp and smelt of fresh rain. Edward didn't say a word before taking his hand from my eyes. The sight disarmed me. There was white carpet lain down on the floor with a big soft looking bed in the centre of the room, with posts and streams of white and gold silk falling from the frame. Esme definitely had a thing for beds in the middle of the rooms, even if no one ever really needed them. The room was large enough for a white mini grand piano to fit, to the side on a small step up, surrounded by glass. There were empty bookshelves lining the other side of the room, with an opening to what I guessed was a bathroom and closet and a large picture of Edward and myself, taken on our wedding day, hanging on one of the walls.

Right across from where I was standing, and behind the bed there was a wall of glass, reminding me so much of Edward's room back in Forks, the glass door was open, and outside there was the view of lake through the trees. I walked wordlessly to stand at the window, so overwhelmed with what they had given us. Edward followed suit behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and whispering into my ear while I kept my eyes on the swaying trees.

"It's nothing compared to you…" he whispered breathily against my skin, I had to fight the urge to turn and attach my mouth to his, I simply giggled, "Welcome home Bella."

I turned and hugged him, motioning over his shoulders for Alice and Esme to join us. I embraced them into my arms, having lost my speech to thank them and let them know how happy I was to be here. I think they understood, regardless.

Renesmee and Jacob had the same expression of awe on their faces when we met up with them after they had seen their own room.

"Mom…" she ran toward me and wrapped her arms around my neck, touching her hands to my face as she did so, the picture of a beautiful room, almost bigger than ours flashed in my mind, the bed was larger than I had ever thought imaginable and the view from their window wall was almost the same as ours, just lower to the ground, "isn't it wonderful?"

"It's so cool!" Jacob's smile reached me in his words; I had turned to smile at him too, when something in my head clicked.

"You two are sharing a room?" My eyes widened and I could feel the every set of eyes in the room, which was the whole family now, on me.

Emmett laughed heartily and patted Jacob roughly on the back, walking passed him and into another room with Rosalie smirking to herself as she followed him.

Jasper walked up to me and put his hand on my shoulder, feeling Jacob's sudden anxiety and Renesmee's irritation, "I think we should bring you out for a bit of a hunt, shall we?"

A wave of calm washed over me as I rolled my eyes and decided to just give up on that situation. Suddenly I felt very hungry. Jacob grinned and put his arm around my daughters' shoulders and I pretended I couldn't hear him when he whispered to her. _'See Ness, told you she'd learn to deal with it."_

*

"So, what's the school like here?" I asked, in the living room sitting across from Alice and Rosalie. The boys were all still hunting, along with Ness and Esme.

Rose grinned and ran her hand through her blonde hair; I still hadn't come close to getting used to how beautiful she was, "Well, you know, same as always, filled with humans."

I had found out that Rose, Em, Alice and Jasper had only endured one year at Elkins High, opting instead for staying hidden and having Carlisle pretend he had children in an international school in Europe. Their explanation for this was they had wanted to wait for us to come to town, figuring it would make sense to work it out that way, and buy a few more years in the place.

"It's a bit bigger than Forks, almost a thousand students, so that helps with staying unnoticed," Alice explained, then added with a smirk, "you guys should have no problem fitting in… just so long as you can hold your temper for a while."

I didn't fully understand what Alice was implying, but I nodded anyway, sighing and shaking my head. Sometimes it drove me crazy how cryptic she could be.

It was a couple of hours before everyone else came back from hunting; so I took that time to organize everything in Edward and my new room, I reached into my pocket and pulled out my cell phone, dialing a familiar number and pressing the speaker to my ear.

"_Bella?" _I heard Charlie's voice on the line and I couldn't help but smile.

"Hey dad," I could here him scraping a stool across the ground so he could sit near the phone, "Just wanted to let you know we got here safely, how's everything back there?"

Charlie didn't respond for a moment, I could hear the loneliness behind his toughed up voice, "Yeah great honey, it feels good to be king of the town again," he chuckled, "How's everything in the new place? How's Carlisle, Alice… you know, the whole crew?"

"Everyone is perfect dad, the house is beautiful, I can't wait to have you visit! It's right on the lake, you could just step out the door and do your fishing thing… I'll tell everyone you asked about them, I'm sure they'd love to hear about you!" I gushed, "I already miss you…"

A slight laugh, "I miss you too Bella, I'm glad you like it there" I heard someone else moving around in the background, I assumed it was Sue, "Hey honey, I'm sorry to cut you short, but I have someone over and I need to attend to some business, can I call you tomorrow?"

I felt slightly disappointed but I didn't say anything, "Sure dad, I love you, say hey to Sue for me."

"Same goes for the Cullen's, give my love to Nessie for me, will you?"

"Okay dad."

I pressed the hang up button on my phone and put it up on the edge of the bed.

The evening turned into late night without anything really eventful happening. When everyone came back from the hunt, Ness and Jacob went to bed almost straight away, Carlisle retreated to his office while Esme and Emmett, clearly excited about having food eating humans in the house, busied themselves in the kitchen, baking all sorts of cakes and casseroles and everything else. Only to throw everything out to start again, _"practice makes perfect!" _Esme had beamed. Alice and Jasper had gone out for a little to visit some friends that were in the next town and Rosalie sat quietly amused watching Emmett and Esme.

I walked around the house, exploring the unfamiliar stairs and carpets and rooms, when I caught Edward trying to stealthily surprise me from behind. I turned around to find him crouched, as if ready to pounce, and raised an eyebrow at him. He laughed and stood up straight, looking a little disappointed.

"You still don't realize that surprising me is virtually impossible these days," I pointed out, my hands on my hips, "You're not as smart as you think you are mister."

"Well," he said lowly, walking slowing up to me, looping his arms through mine and resting his hands firmly in the small of my back, his face was dangerously close to mine when we whispered, "Can't blame a guy for trying."

He leaned his face down so his lips were barely touching mine, and my eyes fluttered when he smiled against the sensitive skin. His arms tightened around me and he chuckled a little when I tried to kiss him and he pulled away, I would have been unreasonably frustrated by this action if I wasn't distracted by what he said next.

"Catch me if you can."

In a fraction of a moment he was gone, and running away from me, I laughed loudly and started after him, following down some stairs and into the front foyer. He sprinted out the door, and to weak human eyes the door wouldn't have been noticed opening and shutting. I ran out after him, sniffing the air and tracking his fresh, sweet scent. I ran deep into the forest surrounding the house, going around in circles and finding nothing. I could hear him whispering my name from all which directions, making me feel dizzy.

I was determined to catch him, but I had lost myself and needed a moment to regroup. I stood up against a large tree, resting my arms against the would be rough exterior and closed my eyes. The forest around me was as silent as forests can get for me these days, and I tried as hard as I could to concentrate on Edward. His scent was still strong, but scattered all over the place. With his scent brought images of him to my mind. The first time I really smelt him, it was a blur to me now… That was another life. He had lent me his jacket to keep my frail human self warm. I remembered feeling shaky when his aroma filled my head. That was the night I really fell in love with him, not even really knowing how. I remembered the way his eyes made me feel like I would almost collapse, and his smile made my stomach ache. Dreams of Edward were something I would never miss, because he was so much more than a dream could ever give him credit for. And I had him forever.

I smiled to myself when I felt him closer, inching toward me cautiously. My eyes stayed close as I felt his body inches away from me, and I waited for the right moment to clasp my arms around him and claim victory. I stayed as still as I could, and when that moment came, I quickly reached my arms out and snapped my eyes open, only to realize my arms were stretched around my own body.

I growled playfully, and followed the fresh scent. I skidded to a stop when the trail brought me to the edge of the lake. I couldn't see the house from here so I guessed we were pretty far out. The lake rippled and shone in the moonlight, and I realized why Edwards' trail had disappeared. I eyed the surface of the water and saw where something was swimming around underneath.

"Too easy…" I spoke to myself, as I made sure nobody was around before stripping down my underwear, Alice would kill me if she knew I went in the lake with the only outfit beside my wedding dress, which she had ever approved of me wearing.

I dove into the water stealthily and swam around under and away from the open air. My eyes stayed open while I searched for him. The water was dark and felt warm against my skin, which I knew it wasn't, being in the middle of winter. I could feel the water moving around me and swam faster in the opposite direction; I was the one that had to catch him, not the other way around.

I was too slow.

All of a sudden, in the darkness in front of me, a blur of white started to make its way closer. Edwards face glistened in the newly caught streams of moon light that cut through the water.

His arms were suddenly around my bare body and his lips were on mine, kissing me with such passion, if I were standing, I would have tumbled. We were still under water when his hands trailed along my spine and gripped at me in all the right places. He pulled away from me slightly, kissing down my face and slowly around my whole body; he somehow removed the rest of the small cloth covering my most intimate spots, and before I could realize, my undergarments were floating away from us. His kisses made me feel like I wanted to scream and cry and laugh at the same time.

My body shook and I whimpered my remaining air from my lungs, silently glad we were under water, I didn't think I was ready for more of Emmett's teasing and innuendos just yet. Edward's hands were gripping my hips when he swam me upward toward the surface. When we were above the water, I took a lungful of air before attacking him with my lips. His hair was stringy and clinging to his face messily as we somehow made our way to the edge of the water, the damp ground was covered with dead leaves as he pulled me from the water, our mouths never parting, and almost roughly put me down on my back.

He placed his perfect body above mine and started to lower himself. I gasped when he was where I needed him to be. He smiled a sexy crooked smile and lowered his mouth to mine once again after speaking softly, "Oh, I love you…"

We stayed out until we noticed the sun start to make its way into its time, it was still dark enough for the colors of the surrounding world to be dulled and grayed, but we knew we wouldn't have long to get back before the light would be blaring down on our naked bodies.

I found the clothes I had left by the lake and put them on messily, not bothering to check whether or not my shirt was even the right way around. Edward found some of his clothes floating in the water and quickly and uncomfortably pulled on a wet pair of briefs.

"The window in our room is still open," I remembered when we found ourselves back at the house, wondering how to go about getting in, undetected.

"Oh, thank God… I could hear Emmett and Rose right behind that door," He laughed quietly, pulling me around the house a little.

Sure enough, the window was still open and we jumped up the nearest tree and into it without a problem.

"We look amazing." Edward chuckled as he stared at our reflection in the bathroom.

I didn't notice until he had said that, and looked up into the mirror and almost stepped back in shock. Our heads looked like a swarm of birds had tried to make their nests in our hair, leaves and dirt and twigs stuck out from every which direction, and even without those little pluses, I'm sure we would have looked just as bad.

I ran a shower and we both stepped in. We cleaned each other generously with foamy soap that smelt like vanilla and musk combined and we helped each other remove all evidence of our night by the lake.

We didn't bother dressing ourselves when we dried off, instead opting to lie down on our new bed and disappear underneath all the blankets.

"You're beautiful, you know," he said this almost every day, and it never got old.

"You're not so bad yourself there, champ."

He stroked the skin on my face and frowned a little in thought, looking at his hand, "We have to go back to school…" he started, "You know, I never really thought of things this way, because I've never been in this position… but, four _teenage _couples living under the same roof… I wonder what that's going to seem like to everyone…"

"I never really thought of that," I pondered, "I know the people at Forks High were a little, judgmental…" I thought of that conversation I had with Jessica on my first day at school in Forks, I giggled a little.

Edward grinned at me, "I know."

I rolled my eyes; of course he knew what everyone thought.

"Wait… four couples?"

"Yes… You and me, Em and Rose, Jazz and Alice, Ness and…"

I cut him off, "Don't say it!" I warned.

"Bell…" he added amused, "You may as well face it sooner or later… Ness and Jake are toget…"

I stopped him before he could say anything more, of course I knew what they were, I knew from day one that this would happen; I just didn't think that it would happen so soon. A cloud of feathers flew in the air from the pillow I had just whacked in Edwards' face.

"Hey!" He didn't sound angry at all as his picked up another pillow and started hitting me with it. Soon we were standing on the opposite sides of the bed, eyeing each other carefully, with pillows in each hand, feathers in the air seemingly levitating on their own.

*

Edward held my hand as we walked down the stairs to look for sign of life later that morning. We found Jacob and Ness in the lounge room, with trays of food all around them and Emmett and Esme watching them eat, happily. Rosalie was reading a magazine on another chair looking disinterested in either watching them eat, or what she was reading. Carlisle was missing in action, I guessed at the local hospital while Jasper and Alice still hadn't returned.

We greeted them all good morning before taking a seat on a nearby love chair together. Edward groaned and I could tell he was reading someone's' mind. I looked into the faces of my family and saw they were all looking at us, with smirks on their faces.

Esme and Rosalie both had their hands over their mouths, trying to conceal their amusement, Jacob watched us, still chewing on whatever was in his mouth and Renesmee giggled openly, trying to pretend it wasn't at us.

"What?" I asked, genuinely confused.

"Been biting pillows again, Edward?" Emmett laughed, unable to contain himself.

I looked over at Edward and saw a couple of feathers nestled in his hair, I picked them out without thinking about how much this would make for great entertainment.

"Pillow fight…" Edward mumbled.

"Sure…" Emmett was still laughing, and I looked over at Edward, his eyes suddenly wide.

In that same moment, Alice and Jasper walked into the room, and I wondered why they too look so amused, when they had just arrived.

"Actually, he's telling the truth Em…" Alice spoke with hilarity definitely evident in her voice. She turned and handed me a handful of wet undergarments, "I think these belong to you?"

I looked at them in horror, mentally murdering myself for not looking more thoroughly for this stuff. I wondered if this was _Pick on Edward and Bella _day.

I threw the handful of wet underwear out the closest window, barely missing Emmett's head on the way. His eyes followed the little bundle before looking back at us.

"If I knew you didn't want them, I would have left them by the lake where I found them!" Alice gasped, clearly not realizing how angry I was at her, at that moment.

I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes, counting backward from 100. I could hear Edward actually laugh a little next to me, and he placed his hand on my back, I couldn't believe he was finding this funny.

_Ninety-three… ninety-two… ninety one… _I needed to calm myself… _ninety…eighty-nine…eighty eight…_I could hear Jake and Ness leave the room, understanding my body language as a time to clear out. _Eighty-seven… eighty-six… eighty-five… _I heard Esme leave the room too, clearing off a few trays at the same time… _eighty-four… eighty-three… _And then I heard him, Emmett was laughing hysterically, his voice booming and echoing around the whole house, he started punching his knees and I'm sure if he could cry, there would be tears in his eyes now.

I didn't make it to 80, before I opened my eyes and glared at him, swiftly jumping from my seat next to Edward and across the room, tackling Emmett out the window and onto the ground below. He was still laughing as I hit him over and over again, and I cursed myself for not still being stronger than him.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see my family, standing at the windows of the house, holding their stomachs and roaring with laughter themselves.


	3. Elkins High Part One

_**3. Elkins High – Part One**_

When Edward finally managed to pull me off Emmett, a considerable amount of damage had been done to the surroundings. I apologized profusely to Esme about the window I had broken and made a promise to never do something like that again. The small trees that were knocked down were a different story, I promised to replant them, although she had laughed it off like it was nothing, I promised myself that I would make sure I did it.

"Do you think no one has ever fought in our family before?" Edward laughed as he helped me pick up shards of glass that had shattered into the ground, "Bella, this is nothing, stop worrying so much."

I didn't answer him, feeling a little ashamed, my temper wasn't the most in control, I guess that's one thing that never left with the first year of my immortality.

The rest of the day went on without incident, for the most part. Emmett stopped cracking jokes when Rose gave him 'the look'. Everyone went on about their days like any other, disappearing to do whatever it was that they did.

Renesmee called Charlie that morning, and had stayed on the phone for about 3 hours. She was the only person in I think his complete lifetime that had ever been able to keep him on the phone for that long, without trying to think of an excuse to hang up. Jacob had run off with Jasper when he heard Ness on the phone to Charlie, knowing full well that the conversation would take a lot longer than a normal phone call usually would and Esme had decided she would enjoy a bit of gardening.

"Alice wants to talk to you," Edward nudged me that afternoon, and nodded toward the door of our room. I had locked myself in there pretty much all day, trying to escape the reality of having attacked my brother-in-law that morning.

I kissed him quickly on the lips before hopping gracefully from the high bed; he smiled and kept his eyes focused on me until I was out the door.

"Hey Bell…" Alice greeted me as soon as I was out the door, "You're not going to attack me are you?" She asked, and I didn't know if she was serious or not. I shook me head, no.

"I just wanted to talk to you about some stuff…"

We started walking with no destination in mind, around the house, I urged her to continue, tucking my hands in my pockets.

"Well, it's about school, I'm worried about you, is all…" She eyed me cautiously, "The people there well, they don't… they're not as cautious around us, not like Forks…"

I hummed in acknowledgement to her words, "Okay… and then what?"

She looked a little hesitant as she kept speaking, "… well of course they still keep their distances for the most part, but still, think of a school filled with Emmett's…"

I shuddered at the thought, as much as I loved him, one Emmett in my life was definitely enough, "Alice, what are you getting at?"

She swallowed, even though she didn't really need to, some actions just came with instinct I guess, "Bella I saw you hurt someone tomorrow, well, a few people…"

I stared at her incredulously.

"Of course it was a little fuzzy!" She stammered, faltering under my glare. _Way to shoot the messenger._ I thought to myself, "But I just wanted to talk to you about maybe trying to control your temper…"

"Why would I do that Alice? How bad do I hurt these people?" I was already angry at myself for something I didn't do.

"You send a couple to hospital, Bell… I couldn't see why you did it though, I just thought I should warn you," She touched her hand to my shoulder, "You know as well as me that nothing is set in stone…"

"Yeah… great, definitely looking forward to school a lot more now." I sarcastically sighed, shaking my head, "Tomorrow is going to be a great day."

Alice was apologetic, although she really didn't need to be, in that moment I felt incredibly guilty about how I was making her act. She shouldn't have to feel like she needed to walk on eggshells around me.

I apologized and she waved me off like it wasn't necessary, she held my hand and started talking to me about ways I could maybe curb my spouts of anger. I listened with all the concentration I could muster, my mind on thoughts more along the lines of _it must have something to do with Jake or Ness…_

*

Edward dressed himself and stood behind me, looking at me look at myself in our bathroom. He could tell I was nervous, and he draped his arms over my shoulders and around my neck, kissing my hair and looking at me through the mirror.

"I'm sure nothing bad is going to happen, Bell, you're stronger than that." His words soothed me and I closed my eyes to savor the feeling.

I had been thinking about what Alice had said all day and all through the night, today was going to be our first day at Elkins High, and I was almost going crazy with anxiety.

Carlisle had already organized our enrollment, so Jacob and Ness were going to be in 10th grade together. Alice was in 11th with Edward and I, while Em, Rose and Jasper were already seniors. We had gone over the cover story last night while Jacob ate, seemingly happy that a decision had already been made regarding his and Ness's 'school life'. Like in Forks, we were all to be Carlisle and Esme's foster children, Jasper and Rose still twins, and Renesmee being Edwards' younger sister. _Just one big family of couples, _Emmett had joked.

Edward, Jacob, Ness and I took my black BMW 325i, which funnily enough was actually one of the more inconspicuous cars in the household, while Rosalie, Em, Jas and Alice all jumped into Rosalie's convertible, not as cautious about keeping a low profile as I was really used to.

Renesmee was holding Jacobs' hand tightly and smiling broadly in anticipation when I looked back at them from the front seat in the car, she had never been to school before.

"Hey sis," she grinned, she had been irrationally excited about not having to call me 'mom' for a while now, "Are you excited?"

I scoffed, rolling my eyes at her, "Not at all," I answered truthfully, "Just don't overdo the _'sis'_ thing, okay Hon?"

She grimaced, hating when I called her 'Hon', "Not an issue Bells."

We parked next to each other in the parking lot, and I couldn't help noticing how much larger this school was than Forks'. Alice hugged me out of nowhere and started to drag me along, up some stairs and through some double doors that had been hooked open. Edward held my hand as we paced through the wide corridor lined with lockers, everyone else following close behind. I could already feel the students looking at us as we passed them at their lockers, obvious excitement filled the air and screamed _fresh meat! _Jacob looked like a little child when I looked back at him and Ness to make sure they were close behind, which was mildly amusing given his size. Edward whispered in my ear when we stopped outside the administration office. "Deep breath baby… I love you…"

I smiled and blinked my eyes at him, not feeling able to speak.

The office smelt heavily of cheap perfume mixed with moth balls, Alice and Edward leaned on the front counter waiting to be acknowledged by a middle aged woman who was obviously the source of the cheap perfume, and was also, I noticed, wearing far too much make up. She held her finger up, noticing our presence but not looking at us as she flipped through a magazine while waiting on the phone on hold.

"One moment ple…" she trailed off when she finally looked up, and stared at Edward. He smiled a crooked smile at her and she immediately hung up the phone. I laughed inwardly when I heard Renesmee mutter, _gross._ "Can I help you?"

Alice spoke up, "Yes, we're just here to sign in the new students, starting today?" She motioned toward me, Jake and Ness smiling.

The woman's eyes swept over us and then back to Edward, "Cullen?" she asked, as if she were guessing the last names of one of many groups of new students arriving that same day.

Meeting the principal and finishing paperwork and retrieving our schedules took almost an hour, cutting shortly into the time of when our first period classes would have been. The others had left when they made sure we were okay, Alice winking at me on her way out.

I hugged Jake and Ness before they headed off to their first class of their new school, hand in hand. She was so tiny compared to him it was quite a sight to see. I looked up at Edward who was leading us to our first class together, thankful that we had managed to arrange having the same time table, and secondly, that Gym was not a part of it.

I was so nervous when Edward knocked on the door that I was silently glad I didn't need to, thinking I might have smashed my hand right through it. The door opened and a tall muscular man, who reminded me a lot like Jacob, had been standing in front of it. He looked at our schedules and greeted us warmly, moving another student so that Edward and I could sit next to each other. Math. Being the first class of every single day would kill me if I were human, but as the teacher, who I mentally thanked for not parading us to the small class, although I knew everyone was looking at us, spoke about triangles… I knew that this class would be a breeze.

Edward nudged me to get my attention, and I looked up at his amused face, "The Cullen's, talk of the school." He whispered so only I could hear. I must have given him a look of ultimate distaste, "Don't worry, they usually get over it mostly within a few days." He reached over and held my hand on the table, he laughed a little to himself when I guess he heard an onslaught of voices from the busy eyes watching us.

The teacher, his name was Mr. Creed, after scrounging around in on his desk, walked over to us and handed us both 5 page booklets filled with formulas and equations the rest of the class were working on for the rest of the period.

"Just a surprise test… If this is too advanced for you, or you haven't covered this yet at your old school, I'd be happy to help…" He sounded almost smug, as if testing his superiority on us.

"No, I think we'll be fine" I smiled at Edward and then up at him. Mr. Creed just nodded, and looked down at our intertwined hands; he raised an eyebrow and cringed a little.

"We're foster children, Mr. Creed" Edward said, just loud enough so others in the class would hear and be able to spread the news, "Not blood related, in any way."

I was mortified.

I dropped my eyes down to the work booklet on the desk in front of me, and picking up a pen, I snapped the side tape open and started writing down my answers. I had finished the paper before Mr. Creed could feel awkward for standing in the same position the whole time. Edward smirked at me, taking my paper and passing it back to him.

Mr. Creed's mouth hung open slightly and he stuttered when I smiled at him as sweetly as I could, "You… have done this before?"

"Not that exact paper, no." I said honestly.

"Oh."

He walked away and back to the front of the class. I took a look around at the students and noticed most of their heads turn sharply, for humans, away from my gaze.

I sighed, feeling awkward. I could hear Edward laughing under his breath and his body shook slightly, of course no one would be able to notice this except myself. I elbowed him playfully in the ribs and almost knocked him off his chair.

The rest of the class went quite slowly, Edward spent most of the time telling me what people were thinking, like my own little gossip girl. We figured out that finishing our work quickly was only an invitation for more work, so we took it easy. Our next class was biology, _memories_.

Edward and I were lab partners, the dynamic duo, at it again. I was grateful for the two teachers we've had so far for not separating us. I guess it was just an unspoken, new student, etiquette. Edward continued relaying the thoughts of the people around us after we'd breezed through the work and not bothered to tell Mr. Garber, our teacher, that we had finished.

"That guy over there thinks he could take me in a fight…" Edward nodded to a large boy sitting on the other side of the room, not really hiding the fact that he was staring at us, "Thinks I look evil… very religious…"

I nodded, starting to feel weary of hearing what everyone around us was thinking. I found myself wondering how Edward could handle it. I touched his hand and moved the shield from my mind, telling him I needed a break from all the goss. He mouthed, 'sorry', and kissed me on the forehead. His body stiffened and he turned around, away from me to look at the door to the classroom.

My eyes followed his gaze and I saw what he saw, my eyes widening. Standing in the doorway, not 10 meters away from us, was a girl I recognized all too well, though her eyes were not the same crimson they always were, instead a strange gold, and she had a blank look on her face, I instinctively formed a shield around Edward and myself, not taking an eye off her as she walked gracefully into the room and stood next to Mr. Garber.

"Ah, you must be Jane!" He proclaimed, happily, "All these new students, what a delight!"

The corner of her mouth curled up into a smile as she nodded. He showed her to her seat, behind the religious big boy who thought he could take Edward, and she sat obediently, without so much as a single word. We didn't take our eyes off each other as she pulled out a notepad and pen, and began writing something.

"She's here to make peace…" I heard Edward speak from behind me, softly, so only I could hear, "She left the Volturi…"

I scoffed, almost choking on the anger caught in my throat; I couldn't believe what was happening, why now? Why here? She looked almost normal, wearing dark jeans tucked into brown suede boots, her long blonde hair sitting flawlessly on the shoulders of her black, long sweater, a brown scarf tied elegantly around her cold, white neck.

"I think I believe her," Edward said slowly. I snapped my face back at him, but I didn't say anything, the room felt tense and memories from the last time I saw her, when she had tried to attack me flashed through my mind, "She's stopped feeding on humans…"

I looked back at her, into her eyes, it was true, her eyes were no longer red, but the horror of having her in the same room as me and Edward was all too overwhelming. She snapped her face away from me and kept writing.

She had blocked her mind from then until the end of the class; I grabbed Edward and pulled him away with me, away from her. Emmett, Rose, Jasper, Alice, Ness and Jacob were all standing feet away from the classroom, with the fierceness in their eyes evident, any humans left in the vicinity quickly made there way, away.

There wasn't really any time to talk before Jane walked out the room, she was the last one. I had the shield up around my family, standing slightly to the front, glaring at her. There was no one else around anymore, everyone had moved quickly to the cafeteria for recess.

"I'm not here to cause any trouble…" Her voice was quiet, surprising, "Please, just listen to me…"

She seemed nervous, yet quite composed, her eyes had me the most curious, though, I wondered if this was just some extreme measure the Volturi had put her through to make her case seem more believable. Alice had her hand on my arm, and I looked at her, she was smiling. She put her hand up to calm the slight growls the family was making, and spoke, slight happiness in her voice.

"I knew you'd come." Alice spoke calmly, "I didn't think it would take you this long… but I knew you'd come."

Jane eyed her carefully, and offered an awkward smile in return. The growls started up again, all except for Alice and Edward, who both looked at her thoughtfully. "I apologize on coming so unannounced; I didn't think you would give me a chance if I came at any other time."

"What makes you think we'll give you a chance now?" Jacob sneered. Her eyes looked anxiously from Jacob back to Alice.

"Because I'm saying we give her one." Alice stated matter-of-factly, not looking away from Jane.

No one spoke for a moment, taking in Alice's words.

"Alice is right." My head turned to face Edward; he wasn't looking anywhere but at Jane either.

"Can we go somewhere, more nonchalant?" Jane asked softly, looking around the empty corridor, lined with several rows of empty lockers, I could tell because there weren't any locks on them.

Alice and Edward both took the lead and started walking to a door at the end of the hallway, opening into a flight of stairs and a running track. The rest of the family followed cautiously, not really knowing how to take any of this.

We had found a spot underneath a small, old row of bleachers; Alice and Edward standing more relaxed than the rest of us, Jacob and Emmett looked huffed up, as if ready for a battle. Jane stood not far in front of us, watching carefully.

"What are you doing here, Jane?" I spoke for the first time since leaving biology.

"She left the Volturi…" Alice spoke for her, she looked happy, "I'm sorry for what you had to go through…"

I couldn't believe she could be so benign, by the looks of it; I wasn't alone in that thought.

"Thank you, Alice." She sighed.

You could really tell she wasn't from this time. Alice nodded, and urged her to tell her story.

"I know that in the past I haven't been the kindest person," Jane said in her soft, smooth tone, "But please, I beg of you to just try and understand… I was a different mind then… I didn't understand."

No one said anything, and Alice nodded at her to continue.

"I knew that what we stood for was wrong, and after coming back from the last time we had come to see you, I tried to speak to Aro… of course he was gracious, and listened to what I had to say, I asked him, to answer me honestly, if he believed that all decisions made by Volturi were the right decisions…

"He didn't answer my questions, but was more curious to the reason I had apparently and suddenly grown a conscience. I wasn't all to sure of how I had been feeling over those next few months, only knowing that something had changed in my mind, and I started to realize it may have been something to do with Chelsea's death…"

"Chelsea…?" Jasper cut her off, "The vampire that can change any allegiance…" He was more muttering to himself, but we all listened and turned back to Jane, she continued speaking, after a curt little nod.

"Chelsea had stayed to spy on you after we had left, she followed some vampires away from your territory and found herself faced with a horrible situation where two of your witnesses had attacked her. Demetri found her not long after, but he too, was ambushed… it was their mistakes of going out alone knowing a surety of anti-Volturi vampires were in the area.."

"Vampires started to try walking out on the Volturi, Alec being on of them. My life shattered when they had killed him. My brother, my mentor, my only real friend… his power was much too much of a threat, not to have on their side. I somehow ran away, living amongst the living, trying to make my way…

"After a year I had met a boy who was much like Alec, except he was human, he found me by an ice pool in Greenland, and took me into his home. I had planned to feed on him, but he had a sister, who reminded me much of myself… I found myself not being able to kill them. I spent more time with them than I had any other human, and I grew frighteningly attached…

"I wanted to start a new life, I wanted family again, and then I thought of your family… I wanted to be and feel like you, the thought of coming to see you crossed my mind, but I knew it would be impossible until I found the right time… I started to hunt animals, and I felt disgusting for a short time, yet at the same time, it was gratifying to know I still had self control…

"I waited years to become used to what I was turning myself into, and even now I sometimes find it difficult not to think about human blood, I still have not killed a human in 6 years. I had left my human friends when it became evident I did not age, and found myself not knowing where to go from there. And then I thought of your family again…"

She motioned her hand in a sweeping motion toward us all. She didn't speak again before Ness asked her to continue.

"In the last 6 years I have become everything I was not when I was in the Volturi, Alec would have been proud of me…" She trailed off, looking at us before continuing, "I tried to build my own coven, without having to bite anyone new, I was lonely and I didn't want to spend eternity on my own… Vampires I met shied away from me, knowing who I was, there were others that remembered me from an incident involving their covens, and the ones that were not afraid, thought me as crazy to be trying to live this life… When I finally made the decision to find your family, it was difficult, I followed your scent into your town, and found you were no longer there, except for your three…"

She was looking at me, Edward and Renesmee now, "How did you find us here?"

"I listened to a conversation your young one had with your father, I came here, not sure of what to do… how to approach you…"

"So you decided to enroll into our school?" I asked, incredulously, "Are you crazy?"

Edward touched my hand, as if to calm me, "Bella, it was actually the smartest decision…"

"What?"

"I'm sure Jane knew we would not fight in front of humans, and if she had shown up at our house I don't think we would have given her that chance to tell us her story." He nodded at her, and she looked at the ground.

"Alice, why didn't you say anything? You knew she was coming?" Rosalie spoke, her voice an emotion I couldn't read.

Alice smiled, and stepped closer to Jane, "I went through every situation, and I found this to be the best way to deal with this… Jane, has reformed… and she needs us…"

No one spoke, just looked carefully at Jane, who looked smaller than she usually did, her arms hung awkwardly by her sides.

"I understand if you want me to leave…" Jane spoke softly, her eyes disappointed, "I know it must be difficult for you to believe me, and I will accept whichever decision you make, I will leave this town and never look back…"

"Don't be silly!" Alice chimed, throwing her arm over Jane's shoulders; Jane's face was a mixture of anxiety and shock.

Edward laughed, "You'll get used to her, Jane…"

"You'll get _used _to her?" Jacob piped up, "Are you two crazy? Am I the only one who remembers this bloodsucker trying to torture us?"

"Jacob…"

"No Edward!" I huffed, "Jacob's right, how can we believe her?"

"Because…" Alice spoke, amused, "I know we can… and Edward I think does too… you have the two psychics to trust.

"I'm quite intrigued." Jasper's voice cut through and joined the air of tension, "I feel nothing but sincerity…"

I couldn't believe it, I shook my head in anger, "Whatever."

Emmett stood by Rosalie, looking confused, "So, what… we vote on not killing her or something?"

"Yes… I would say so… except we're going to vote on whether she should stay… no one is killing anyone, Emmett…" Jasper rolled his eyes a little.

"Fine," I said, "I vote she leave."

"I say we give her a chance," Edward said cautiously, eyeing me.

"Ditto." Alice grinned.

"Leave." Rosalie and Emmett echoed each other.

"Same." Jacob gave his input.

We all looked at Renesmee, and she looked thoughtful for a moment, before slowly saying, "Stay."

*


	4. Elkins High Part Two

AN: Sorry its taken me so long to update guys.. been working on my own novel and haven't been able to break away from that. Please leave me some comments, let me know you're out there reading, enjoying this... or not enjoying... whatever, its a good incentive for me to keep posting! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter... Candice.

_**4. Elkins High – Part Two**_

The world felt like it had gone insane; I stared at Renesmee, wishing I understood what the hell was going on in her head. For that matter, what was going on in everyone's heads.

"Well, that's an even vote… what does that mean? What now?" Rosalie demanded an answer, still glaring, but not at just Jane anymore.

"Carlisle and Esme…" Alice clapped, apparently knowing what they would say anyway.

I couldn't believe it, Jane, the renowned Volturi torturer, was not only going to be in the same town as me and my family, but she'll be attending high school with us as well… without objection.

Jane thanked Alice graciously and promised a thousand times not to cause any trouble. Rosalie grabbed Emmett and stomped off angrily, Alice pronounced happily that Jane was in her next class and skipped off with her hooked into her arm, Jasper following closely behind, and I still stood rooted to the spot, my husband, daughter and best friend standing around me.

"What the hell, Edward, Renesmee…" I fumed, "She's come to kill us before, Edward, she had tortured you… and Ness… she was front row and centre to help watch you die."

Jacob was also staring at them, Renesmee mostly, with not so much an angry, but more a dumbfounded look on his face.

"I trust Alice... And I trust dad…" Renesmee stated plainly, shrugging, "They've never let us down before…"

She had a point, but I was still too stubborn to accept it.

"If she as much as looks at anyone the wrong way, I will kill her with my own two hands." I stormed away, not waiting for Edward to follow next to me to our next class together.

*

I didn't speak to Edward until lunch, he followed behind me silently as we made our way to the cafeteria, ignoring curious eyes as I filled my lunch tray and scanned the room for a place to sit. Rosalie and Emmett were sitting toward the end of the room, on a long table in the corner, next to a large window.

I made my way to the table and took a seat across from Rosalie; she didn't look over at me, and I guessed she felt exactly the way I did about this situation. It was actually almost sickening. Edward sat next to me, touching my hand gently on the table; he leaned over and whispered into my ear.

"Bella… you have to trust us… it will be okay…"

Rosalie and Emmett's eyes moved to look at him, though they didn't say anything.

"Edward…" I whispered forcefully, "She was part of the Volturi… she has tried, and succeeded with you, to hurt us before… what if this is some big plan to manipulate us and spy on us… I'm sure they'd have ways to lie to their thoughts to trick you guys..."

"Me, maybe… but not Alice…" His voice was still calm, "If Jane had any ill intentions, she would have seen that by now…"

I could here Rosalie scoff from the other side of the table, and Emmett go back to pushing things around on his tray of food, spearing some grapes onto a fork. I didn't say anything more, because Edwards' reasoning made too much sense. Still, though, it didn't mean I had to like it.

Jacob and Renesmee found our table and took a seat, without buying any food. It looked as though they had simply forgotten. I sighed and pushed my tray toward them about the same time Edward did. Jacob accepted both trays happily and motioned for Renesmee to take something, she shook her head and looked out the window.

"Are you okay?" Edward asked her suddenly.

She looked his way and smiled softly, shrugging. "Yeah… I… yeah…" She shrugged again and looked back out the window.

I looked over at Edward and he shook his head at me, as if to leave it. I hated how much more he knew about our daughter than I did. I looked over at Jacob who was busy stuffing his face, seemingly nothing about what's already happened today had him the slightest bit worried anymore, I guessed the Ness had spoken to him and brought him around to her view of the situation, whatever that was.

Suddenly a picture flashed in my mind, Renesmee was in the girls' bathroom, looking at her reflection in the mirror, and her pale pink hands adjusted the buttons on her dark blue cardigan. I watched her hear voices from outside of the bathroom, voices only she could hear from that same distance between her and them, and she listened to them talking about the 'new kids'. There were three voices, all female, all heading toward that room. Renesmee listened as the girls went through the list of new students, they spoke first of Edward, they spoke about how good looking he was, their gushing was amusing to me, one mentioned the new girl he was attached to, with the same last name, another girl mentioned that we were all foster children, just like the other 4, which I assumed they were talking about Rose, Em, Jas and Alice.

I began wondering why Renesmee was showing me this, until I heard them move onto the topic of her and then Jacob.

"_She's weird…" one girl had said_, _"What kind of a name is _Renesmee _anyway..."_

"_I think she's gorgeous… just like the rest of them…" another girl had said_, _"What's with that anyway?"_

"_Except for that tribal guy, Jacob, I think that's his name…" one of the girls started making a hollering Indian sound, "Dr. Cullen and his wife stroke out there." She laughed._

"_Shut up, Cynthia! That's so rude" another girl scolded, "He's actually quite attractive…"_

"_I know he is Jules… in a normal kind of way, the rest of them are heartbreaking… think about it, those Cullen's' seemed to have just all paired up, do you think Renesmee just settled with Jacob? Look at her, and then look at him." Cynthia reasoned, snickering._

"_They're both really good looking…" The third girl spoke, "They just don't match."_

I couldn't believe how ignorant that girl was being, Cynthia, I think her name was, more images kept flowing into my mind.

"_If anything, he looks too good for her…" Jules' voice stated, "If anything, Renesmee looks like a snob."_

_Renesmee's face looked up to see them walk through the door, her eyes harsh on them as they walked into the bright echoing room. The girl, Jules, had her mouth hanging open, knowing that what she had just said would have been heard. The three of them didn't realise how much of their conversation had _actually _been listened to._

"_Oh… I… um…" Jules stuttered, staring at Renesmee, flabbergasted. _

_Renesmee walked steadily in their direction, pushing through them and out the door. _

_From behind her, she could hear them all gasping in shock; she had terrified them with one look. They were lucky that they didn't know how terrifying she could really be._

I looked up at my daughter, and I felt instantaneously angry at those girls, she looked hopeless, and somewhat embarrassed. She had never had to endure school, let alone high school before, and didn't realise how judgemental people could be. I realised that even the smallest amount of negativity would have been a push for her, beside when the Volturi were after her, she had never experienced negativity in that sort of sense. I suddenly felt guilty for not warning her.

Edward had seen everything, and sighed, not really knowing what else to do. We watched our daughter look up at Jacob, and she scooted closer to him and leaned against his side, suddenly feeling exhausted, he looked down at her and lifted his arm up so she could rest against his body, underneath his protective embrace. He kept eating with his other hand.

I was suddenly grateful for Jacob being there for her, his innocence would help her get through anything, even if he didn't know he was.

Edward was probably thinking the same thing and he put his arm around my waist and pulled my body closer to him, kissing me on the temple.

We all sat in silence until Alice and Jane arrived, they both had trays of food with them, with Alice looking glorious, while Jane still looked nervous. Rosalie sneered and got up, leaving the table, Emmett was not far behind her.

"Don't worry about them," Alice assured, "They'll come around."

"Not likely…" I said quietly to myself, knowing full well though, that they would all hear.

Renesmee smiled and patted the space next to her, they both silently complied and took their seats.

"So what are your plans?" Edward asked casually, Jane looked up and just looked at him a moment before replying.

"I'm not sure…"

"So you're plan was just to come here and ruin our day?" A asked vindictively.

"Bella, drop it." Alice spoke exasperatedly, "I never thought you'd be this bitter."

"She wanted to hurt our family, Alice!" I spat, loud enough so only our table could hear.

"Edward wanted to hurt you once!" She retorted, just as low.

I fought back the urge to growl, not thinking it was the best place for it, while hundreds of pairs of eyes were already on us as it was. I shook my head and looked at Jane, speaking between my clenched teeth, momentary wondering how hard I'd have to clench before my teeth broke apart, "Whatever… Alice, she's your responsibility."

"Not a drama." She laughed, as if taking this as words of my acceptance.

*

The rest of the day went on slowly; I didn't know what bothered me more, what Renesmee was going through, or the whole 'Jane', thing… I decided to talk to Edward about Renesmee, feeling though speaking to him about Jane would probably make me want to rip his beautiful head off.

I wondered who those girls where, what grade they were in, who they were friends with, whom else was speaking this way about our family…

"It happens every time we start a new school, honey…" Edward held my hand during French class, "She'll get through it…"

"It's not right, Edward, regardless of if its common, Renesmee doesn't deserve that."

"I know she doesn't, but what can do? Kill them?" he tried to make a joke, but I ignored it, too distressed. Today was going horribly, "Look, I'll talk to her, she's got a good head on her shoulders, and she'll be okay."

"She better be." I smiled weakly for the first time in what seemed like forever.

*

After school, we were meant to meet each other in the parking lot, getting there I saw Renesmee was already in the car, and when I got closer, I saw she was crying. I quickly, but humanly closed the distance between us and jumped into the backseat, scooting her over, panicked.

"Baby what's happening? Why are you crying?" I looked around, "Where's Jacob?"

Edward had been standing at the door of the car, right behind me, but I felt him suddenly move away, I turned around and saw he was gone.

"They were being horrible Mom," She sobbed, "I wanted to hurt them; I've never wanted to hurt humans so bad before…"

"Who? What did they do?" I needed her to stop crying for me, I was actually frustrated that she didn't just tell me.

"They…_ sob_... threw stuff… at us…" She stared to shake, "They were yelling at us to leave, they were calling us evil…"

That's when I could smell her; her clothes were mashed with rotten fruit. I growled and stared out the back of the car, trying to find where to go next.

"They said they knew what we were… and Jacob…" she started to lose it now, "He almost phased… he wanted to kill them… but he stayed, and he told me to run away…"

My eyes widened, "What happened, Renesmee?" I asked slowly.

"He didn't phase, just started breathing heavily, I wouldn't leave him, but he growled at me… I know he didn't mean to, but I listened and I left him alone…"

I told her to stay put, and wait for Alice or Rosalie to come, and with that I jetted out of the car and toward the scent of rotten fruit.

They were behind the school; near the bleachers we had been standing under that day when we were discussing Jane. Edward was holding Jacob in place, who looked red in anger. There was screaming and chanting, what sounded to me a little like praying.

I reached them and looked to see a group of about 6 students, including the large boy who was in biology with us, who wanted to take Edward on. One girl held a set of rosary beads in the air, her words melding together as mind mentally crushed her. I ran over to Jacob and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"Jacob! Stop this! Go back to the car!"

"NO!" he bellowed, "How DARE they!"

"Jacob!" I pleaded, thinking only of my daughter that moment. He growled at me, "Do NOT growl at me Jacob! If you _ever _wanted me to approve of you and my daughter, you would want to go to her now… she needs you." I whispered angrily.

He looked at me and back at the students still yelling at us, and he ran around the building, disappearing after only moments. Not caring that he looked like he was only jogging, but at speeds faster than Olympic athletes' sprinters.

I moved closer to Edward, who was now glaring at the students, I didn't look at them when I held his shoulders too, asking him to look at me. He did, and I saw anger in his eyes that made my heart break. "Edward, let's just go, they're not worth it."

At that same moment I turned quickly at the sound of something coming near me, I put my hand out to catch the rotten tomato hurdling toward my face; I stepped out of the way, and let my hand fall back to accommodate the velocity of the tomato, making sure it didn't smash in my hand.

I didn't realise how that must have looked for them, but at that moment I didn't care, not needing to read my mind, Edward knew what I was about to do, he started to tell me to stop but I didn't listen, I swung my body and hurdled it back at the big kid, it hit him in the shoulder and having all this happen in only seconds, he wasn't prepared for anything. He stumbled back on impact; his hand grabbing his shoulder in shock. My guess would be that it would have felt a bit like a paintball gunshot. If I weren't so angry, I would probably have laughed, the students huddled around the big kid, who had fallen on his bottom now, they had looked each other and stared back at me in disbelief. It didn't take long for their screaming to become more pronounced, more angry.

Edward grabbed me by the wrist as I growled and started to stalk toward them, "Bella… don't…"

"Leave me alone, Edward!" I hissed, not taking my eyes away from the screaming students. I could have been at their sides in the matter of a split second, but I took my time, my mind reeling, my non-existent heart pumping. I was thinking of who I should bury first, and relishing in the thought. No one hurts my family.

I stopped when I found myself standing in front of the students, looks of fear suddenly spread plainly across their faces, I could feel Edward standing only feet behind me, I could hear the raspy breaths of the children in front of me, frozen with fear but dripping with curiosity at the same time. I took a deep breath and relished in their, sick, sweet, rusty smell. Rusty. Someone was bleeding.

I whipped my face to see the smallest one, a girl, with Rosary beads in her hand, shaking slightly. There was a bandaid wrapped loosely around her thumb, and whatever wound was underneath it had seeped through the bandaid so I could clearly see the shadow of blood underneath… trapped. I walked over to her and touched her hand, not asking, nor caring.

"Take your hands off her, demon!" I whipped my head around and looked at the boy who I hit with the tomato, he was fuming, his hand still on his shoulder, "Leave! Go back to hell!"

It all happened so fast after that, my brain snapped and I remembered lunging for him, there were hands all around me, there were screams, I realised I was one of them. I could hear a few cracks, and I'm not sure where it came from, there was an intense growl, some high-pitched squealing, pushing, shoving, the taste of grass, a putrid smell… and then, there was blood.


End file.
